Bang, whoosh-

A red flare soared high into the sky. Soon, the scattered soldiers would rush here. This meant that until reinforcements arrived, the five of them would have to face five medium-sized demonic beasts.

For now, the group hid behind trees, firmly gripping their weapons while silently waiting for the demonic beasts.

Thump thump, thump thump-

The sound shaking the ground grew closer. Killian’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Oh no… It seems there are more than ten, not just five. Fire another flare.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

At that moment, heavy tension fell over everyone’s faces. Though all were experienced in battle, they couldn’t help but feel tense in the moment just before combat. Especially in a situation facing numerically superior enemies.

Bang, whoosh-

The second red flare meant the situation was urgent and they needed to hurry even more. Everyone took deep breaths and focused on the movements of the demonic beasts.

Thump thump, thump thump- Thump thump, thump thump-

The massive demonic beasts came right up to them.

“Groar! Grr!”

“Screeech!”

From their cries, they seemed to be in a somewhat excited state.

“I’ll start the attack first. The rest of you follow one minute later.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Taking advantage of the enemies’ vulnerability, the swiftest would strike first to catch them off guard.

While the enemies were flustered by the sudden attack, everyone would join in for an all-out assault. This was their common tactic when facing numerous enemies with few allies in a confined space.

After signaling his subordinates with his eyes, Killian ran forward without hesitation. It was a silent movement with no sound of footsteps or even breathing.

Confirming the enemies before him, Killian frowned. The opponents were close to large-class, beyond medium-class, and just from what he could see there were about ten, meaning there could be over twenty in total.

‘We completely misjudged!’

The time for self-reproach was brief. Killian gritted his teeth hard and quickly began swinging his sword.

Swish-

The right foreleg of the quadrupedal demonic beast at the front was cut off.

Whoosh-

The body of the bipedal demonic beast following behind was split in half.

“Kyaaak!”

“Gyaaaak!”

Soon after, the demonic beasts began to shriek and panic. Killian didn’t miss this opening. Intending to take down as many demonic beasts as possible before his comrades joined, he repeated running, slashing, running again, and stabbing.

It was when the floundering demonic beasts finally targeted Killian and charged.

“Now! Let’s go!”

The remaining four, who had been watching for the optimal timing, also began their attack at Windler’s signal. And right behind them, the soldiers who had rushed over after seeing the flare joined in.

Though there were more demonic beasts than expected and they were all large, thanks to the soldiers’ quick movements, they avoided being at a disadvantage. However, the initial plan of capture needed to be modified. Taking them down was the priority over capture for now.

“Kyaaak!”

“Gyeeek!”

Ear-splitting screams of demonic beasts could be heard everywhere.

At the same time, Veronia was busily moving without rest, treating patients at the infirmary set up in the Great Temple. She took charge of all patients under 5 years old.

Though she was very grateful for the holy power obtained after becoming pregnant with Jediel, she couldn’t help but feel regretful about still being unable to treat patients of a wider age range.

“It’s done.”

“Wow! It’s clean!”

“Thank you, Healer! Thank you so much!”

Both the child and mother shed tears of joy seeing the child’s hands and feet, which had been so rotten they were unrecognizable, now completely healed.

“However, it’s not fully cured yet. Give the child one spoonful of this potion daily and observe the progress. If symptoms of the epidemic reappear, come to the infirmary immediately.”

“Yes, I understand. Healer.”

The child’s mother quickly wiped her wet eyes and received the medicine packet Veronia handed over. The child and mother bowed repeatedly as they left the treatment room.

As Veronia was recording the patient’s information in the ledger, the door opened and the next patient entered. With many patients waiting, there was almost no time between treatments.

“Hello. Please come in.”

Veronia smiled brightly at the new patient. But due to the helmet-shaped magical tool she wore, it was uncertain if her smile was properly conveyed to the patient.

Almost all patients visiting the treatment room came in a very tense state, so it was important for the healer to greet patients with a bright expression to help ease their tension a bit.

But this time, it wasn’t easy because of the magical tool covering her face. So she had to deliberately make her voice even brighter.

“Please sit comfortably on that sofa. What’s your name? How old are you? How many months pregnant are you?”

“Chloe Green, and I’m twenty years old. I’ve just entered my 7th month of pregnancy.”

“In three months, you’ll meet your beautiful baby. Do you have a name picked out?”

Veronia quickly wrote down the patient’s personal information in the ledger while continuing light conversation.

The patient seemed very nervous, as her voice trembled at the end. Well, it wouldn’t be easy being so young herself while also being the guardian of the child in her womb.

“…No, not yet.”

“I see. A pretty name will soon come to mind.”

Having finished the ledger entry, Veronia finally approached the patient and examined her condition. It was serious. The rotting had spread beyond her hands and feet to her arms and legs. At this stage, even walking must have been difficult.

“Did you come here alone?”

“Yes. A soldier helped me.”

“Ah, I see.”

Due to the rapid progression of the disease, she couldn’t come to the infirmary alone, which seemed to have delayed treatment.

“Well then, let’s start the treatment. Please lean back comfortably on the sofa.”

“…Yes.”

Veronia gently placed her hand on the patient’s protruding belly. For child patients, she treated them by placing her hand directly on the affected area, but it was different for pregnant women. Placing her hand where the fetus was located resulted in faster treatment effects.

Veronia’s healing power still had the limitation of only being effective for children under 5 years old.

So in the case of treating pregnant women, rather than directly treating the pregnant woman herself, it was possible to treat the pregnant woman’s body as part of treating the fetus.

A soft light began to emanate from Veronia’s hand. The patient’s eyes widened in surprise, likely seeing the manifestation of holy power for the first time. Veronia smiled gently and reassured her.

“It’s alright. The holy power is starting to heal the fetus. For the complete health of the fetus, it will heal the mother’s body as well. It will take some time, so please close your eyes as if you’re resting for a moment.”

“…Yes.”

As the warm energy of the holy power began to circulate throughout the patient’s body, centered on her belly, the patient quickly became drowsy and fell into a light sleep, breathing evenly.

Treating pregnant women took a long time. If it took about 10 minutes to treat a child, pregnant women required twice that time.

After finishing the treatment, Veronia gently patted the patient’s shoulder to wake her.

“The treatment is finished. You did well.”

“Ah…!”

The patient who woke from sleep was first surprised that she had fallen asleep during treatment, and later shocked to see her arms and legs, which had been hideously rotten, now clean.

“Th-thank you, Healer!”

“It’s not completely cured yet. We need to monitor the progress further. Other patients take medicine, but… I don’t recommend medicine for pregnant women. Can you come back in two days? Follow-up treatment is necessary.”

“Yes, I’ll do that. I’ll come back in two days.”

The patient nodded vigorously as she answered. She looked like she might cry at any moment.

“Then, go home and rest well, and I’ll see you in two days. Take care on your way home, Chloe.”

“I’ll see you again. Thank you so much, Healer!”

Still looking at her arms and legs in disbelief, the patient bowed deeply and left the treatment room. Veronia returned to her desk and neatly recorded the treatment details in the ledger.

It was then. A faint bang! sound was heard from afar. Startled by the unfamiliar noise, Veronia looked out the window to see a red smoke rising straight up into the blue sky. The smoke was originating from the forest.

“What’s that? A flare?”

If it’s red, not another color, doesn’t that signal danger? For a moment, Veronia’s heart sank. Her mind became muddled with worry about Killian, who had left for Coteng Forest.

‘Surely… nothing’s wrong? Killian is alright, right?’

Frightening thoughts kept piling up. Strange things had been continuously happening in that forest.

It wasn’t in history, nor in the original work. Because Veronia knew this fact, the fear she felt could only be greater.

‘Please… let it be nothing! Killian…, you’re safe, right?’

Thinking of Killian, her eyes suddenly felt hot. At this moment, she missed him unbearably.

‘But…’

She had to endure. There were many patients waiting for her. Veronia took a deep breath and composed herself.

“It’ll be fine. Surely everything will be fine.”

As she was reassuring herself in a quiet but firm voice, another bang! sound was heard from outside. Her gaze fixed on the window again.

The red smoke columns decorating the blue sky had increased to two. Two smoke columns seemed to indicate an even more urgent situation than one.

‘Ah…, what should I do!’